The National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) is aware of a potential threat of fraudsters using the FIFA World Cup in Brazil to scam victims out of money.
Action Fraud in partnership with the NFIB have identified three key trends relating to the FIFA World Cup in Brazil 2014, these are:
Investment Fraud – Victims have been contacted by individuals offering land investment opportunities in Brazil purportedly as part of the redevelopment for the World Cup. The investment is thought to be non-existent or worthless. Follow our advice to avoid investment scams.
Rental fraud – Victims looking for accommodation for the World Cup have responded to false online advertisements and made payment for apartments thought to be non-existent/unavailable for rent. Also overseas companies looking to rent retail space in Rio for the World Cup are responding to a false online advertisements. Follow our advice to protect yourself from rental fraud.
Lottery Scams – Victims have received emails/letters purportedly from the FIFA World Cup Lottery claiming the recipient has won a prize and/or a ticket to the World Cup. Victims are asked to supply personal details in order to process the “payment”. You should never respond to any such communications like this and always remember if you haven’t entered a lottery then you can’t have won it.
Advice from FIFA regarding ticket purchases
If you are thinking of purchasing tickets for the games FIFA have issued the following advice. For fans across the world, the only source of official and guaranteed tickets for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil is via www.FIFA.com. No other websites or parties have any rights to legitimately sell tickets for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Other websites offering tickets for the 2014 FIFA World Cup are not legitimate sales channels. Resellers operating or offering tickets are doing so in violation of the terms and conditions of the tickets and in contravention of the applicable laws of Brazil.
To report a fraud and receive a police crime reference number, call Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or use our online fraud reporting tool.Related links
FIFA World Cup online lottery scam
Commonwealth of Nations Lottery scam
Fraudsters targeting Rugby World Cup 2015 fans
